The castle of Cesvaine was first mentioned in the 13th century, but it was a wooden latgal castle on the left bank of the Sula River.

The Archbishop’s castle was probably built at the end of the 14th century, since the chronicle in 1410 mentions a settlement near the castle. The Castle of Cesvaine itself was first mentioned in 1461. In 1479 the castle occupied the order for many years.

In the chronicle of Rusov it is said that during the Livonian War, in 1577, the castle of Cesvaine was occupied by the Russian troops of Ivan the Terrible. The inhabitants of the castle were captured, but there was no special destruction. The castle was inhabited until the middle of the XVII century. It is likely that the castle of Cesvaine was destroyed during the Russo-Swedish war. During the construction of the buildings, the ruins of the old castle were practically removed, and in its place was built the castle of Cesvaine in the style of eclecticism, built of granite boulders designed by the architects G. Grisebakh and A. Dinklag. Near the castle, the buildings of the former estate and a romantic park have been preserved – there are about 70 species of trees and shrubs.

The castle of Cesvaine was built on the right bank of the Sula River. From the north and west it was guarded by a river valley about 50 meters wide and more than 10 meters deep. The river itself is shallow, about 3 meters wide. On the east side was a mill pond. On the south side was a bastion, which was surrounded by a moat, traces of which have survived to this day.

The main lock in the plan was a square. To the south was a bastion of the same square form. In the south-west corner of the bastion was a semicircular tower, in which was the entrance. Later, the entrance was moved to the south wall. After the appearance of firearms, in the 16th century, earthen ramparts were poured into the northern corners of the bastion.

Now only the foundation of the western wall, about 50 meters long and about 1 meter high, has been preserved from the old castle. The width of the base of the wall was 1.5 meters. At the southern end of the wall, there are also ruins of a south-western semicircular tower with a height of 1-2 meters.

Tourists, accompanied by a guide, can inspect the castle’s premises, and climb the 30-meter observation tower, which opens the view of the neighborhood within a radius of 20 km.

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